M is for Martinis and Metallic Cardstock

Finishing up the Alphabet Soup summer challenge letters in the Papercrafter's Inner Circle Facebook group.

This is the Olive Martinis die set from Spellbinders, cut in various metallic cardstocks.  I made two regular martinis, and two espresso martinis!

The papers are the very pretty In Bloom pack from My Mind's Eye - I've had them for years!  They brought just the right amount of glam to my cards.

Happy to have four more in my stash (but these are probably going to be gifted!)

Mosaic Christmas card

This was one of those lying-awake-in-bed ideas... I wanted to try pressing the March Betterpress Society plate, Teardrop Mosaic without ink.  Metallic cardstock works really well for this, so I pulled out some Emerald Prism Studio metallic cardstock and gave it a try.

                             

After I pressed it onto my cardstock... (check it out below!) I somehow decided that I should try to make it into a Christmas card?

I pulled out my Holiday Blooms die set from Spellbinders, and found a bunch of pieces already cut in cream cardstock.  So I added a few contrasting black pieces, and some metallic gold (for even more glimmer...).  This was an unusual colour combo for me, but I felt like the metallic tones already adding enough excitement to the card without going crazy with colour.  

The sentiment was also pressed without ink - and was from the Christmas Whimsy press plate from last fall.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Colourful Anemone

I have a bright card today, which was inspired by the Fresh Picked Anemone die cut (Spellbinders) that I'd already cut out...  It's a bit of a funky colour combo, so I decided to go with it, and pulled out a bunch of Concord & 9th cardstock colours to create my card.

I placed it over my new favourite Arch Punch & Pierce Plate die, which I mounted on a larger arch created with the Essential Arches dies (both Spellbinders).

The background was created with Altenew's Dotted Tile debossing plate, and I used a gold foiled sentiment and gold paint splatters to finish it off.

Bridal Shower card

 I had these bits and pieces on my craft desk from another project, and needed a bridal shower card - so they were perfect!  

This is the Arch Pierce and Press plate, Fresh Picked Buttercups and Serenade Sentiments.

I used the Essential Arches dies to cut the card base into the arch shape.  All dies are Spellbinders.

The outer and inner arches are popped up with 3D foam adhesive.  I added a little ink blending to the flowers and to the peach arch shape.

Class Cards!

If you buy the whole 'We All Have Baggage' collection by Sheri Ballantyne for Spellbinders, you get a link to a free card class using all the sets!  It just launched this weekend, so I created along with the class last night.

The bundle also included a class pack, that had the coloured cardstock and gems to create the four cards, with lots of leftovers!

The Designer Purse dies.

The Retro Suitcase and Sentiments set.

The Rolling Tote dies.

The Awareness Ribbon and Sentiments.

The bundle and individual sets can all be found at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Arched Pierce and Press Die

 I have a mix of old and new products on today's card, all from Spellbinders.  This is the new Arched Pierce and Press die, paired with the older Floral Stems dies from Simon Hurley.

I die cut the flowers from watercolour paper, and used a combo of inks/paints to add some colour.  I adhered them on top of one of the three arches that come in the set, splattered on some gold paint, and then added a hot foiled sentiment from the It's Your Day Sentitment set.

Buon Appetito!

I absolutely adore the Buon Appetito collection from Spellbinders, and when my niece received it as a gift, she graciously allowed me to die cut a bunch of the bits (before she'd even used it...).  They have been sitting in my craft room for weeks, and I finally had time to assemble the MANY tiny pieces, and got them made up into cards.

 

I wanted to keep things fairly simple, so went with a primary colour scheme for the most part, and looked through my stash of papers to find some 'tablecloth' looking prints.  An old pack of Graphic 45 paper to the rescue.

The cutlery is an old Your Next Stamp die set, and the square and oval dies are from The Greetery, but otherwise all products used were from Spellbinders.

The sentiment set that is in the collection is amazing!  Hilarious and punny to go with such cute images.

As always, the sets are so well thought out - right down to the little piece that goes under the rosy cheeks.

Glam Designer Purse

This was a special request card, using the Designer Purse die from the 'We All Have Baggage' collection designed by Sheri Ballantyne for Spellbinders.

I found these older kraft/gold papers in my stash to create a glam card using pearlescent black cardstock and some metallic red for the hearts.  The sentiment is 'Keep Calm Sentiments' by Hero Arts.  My card is 5 1/2" square.

You can find the entire collection at The Papercrafter's Workshop!

Watercolour Tulips & Daffodils

I knew that I wanted to try painting this image as soon as I saw it, so I pressed a couple of them on some Canson XL Watercolour paper, and pulled out my Gansai Tambei set of paints.

 

This is the Yana's Tulips and Daffodils press & foil plate from Spellbinders.

Both versions are pretty similar, with slight variations.  This one has a softer background, and more red toned tulips.  I added some gold spatter, and a sentiment from the Golden Blooms set.

I stitched around the outside of the piece with my sewing machine, and added a few champagne pearls.

My second version has a moodier vibe, with a stronger background.

I went for more pink toned tulips, and used a sentiment from the Bouquet of Hugs set.

So much fun to paint!  You can find the set at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Bright Daisy Trio

Still my favourite press plate!  This is the Daisy Trio by Yana Smakula for Spellbinders.

I was inspired by a stenciled daisy card by Mindy Eggen, loving her Distress Ink blend, and wanted to try something similar.  This first one is a blend of Dried Marigold, Abandoned Coral and Seedless Preserves.

I used a medium blue with the shadow stencil, that blended in so nicely with the background shades!

My blue card was pressed a while ago, using Pinkfresh Studio inks, but coloured in faintly with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide, plus Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint on the stems.

The sentiments on all my cards are the One Word Greetings Dies from Kristina Werner, cut out of white cardstock with a vellum halo.

And now for the grunge version!  I actually pressed this one first on a Cotton Card panel, which didn't give perfect coverage (but I still love how it turned out!).  So I splattered it with white paint and blue ink for an artsy finish.  My first card above, was pressed on regular cardstock, which gave that really wonderful ink blended background.

Trio of Tulips & Daffodils

I kind of went to town this week using the new Tulips and Daffodils press & foil plate from Yana Smakula for Spellbinders.  I made 3 cards, all with a very similar colour palette in three different ways.

My first card was foiled on some gingham printed Hammermill paper from Art Impressions, using Rose Gold foil.  This worked so beautifully!  I'm still pretty new to foiling, so when it works out this well, I'm just speechless.  I've really been wanting to try using the Ai papers, as I thought they'd be perfect for foiling.  The sentiment is from the Bouquet of Sentiments set, and I struggled to get this one to foil well.

Second card - just pressed with Betterpress black ink on regular cardstock.  Again, great image - and I coloured it with stencils/ink.  I added a little light blue ink in and around the flowers, probably wouldn't do this again, but it kept the background from looking too stark.  I cut it out with my Essential Arches dies, and matted it on some Ai patterned paper.  The sentiment was foiled in gold on the patterned melon coloured paper.

My third card was a bit of an experiment.  I wanted to press on some yellow cardstock, and do just a pale ink blend on the blooms.  I used Betterpress Saffron ink to press the image off center, and just lightly stenciled in the ink.  I used the Serenade Sentiments dies cut in metallic gold, and stacked with a second layer to add my sentiment across the bottom.

For someone who isn't a huge yellow fan, I've certainly been reaching for it lately!  But hey, daffodils...  Stay tuned, I may try some of the 'fantasy' coloured blooms that I've been seeing others do.  This collection will be available soon on the Papercrafter's Workshop site.